20121221-31 A great improvement on last years festive season

FRIDAY 21 DECEMBER – Steve drives himself over to hospital and is back really quickly. They have unblocked one of his 2 lines and given him his jab. Steve spends much of the day watching the Christmas movies whilst I am addicted to building our ancestry tree and get back to the 17c. Claire calls to say she has been to the house she intended renting and her Christmas mail from Grandma is there. The agents said they wouldn’t go to the property to pick it up unless they were showing a prospective tenant around. Instead of being a mystery shopper I become a mystery tenant and book a viewing for Monday.
KEIGHLEY (+77)

SATURDAY 22 DECEMBER – It’s a horrible day with heavy rain so Steve drives to the newsagents. In Market Drayton Netty goes round to Mums and it sounds like she has sent our Christmas card to Claires’ intended new address also. Now how I am going to explain to the agent that there is mail there in my name! I call them, deciding to confess, and end up leaving a message for them to call me back. Sad news on Facebook when we hear our friends Mum has died having only recently been diagnosed with cancer, can’t believe how many people are being struck at the moment.
KEIGHLEY (+78)

SUNDAY 23 DECEMBER – We now have strong winds but less rain, still not conducive to walking out so we drive to town to pick up a few last minute things. After visiting Mom and Dad we call in at Claire’s. She is now unpacked and the house looks very festive. More sad news with an Email from friends in Spain to say Marcia, who was in Alicante hospital with Steve (acute myeloid leukaemia), died 2 weeks ago.
KEIGHLEY (+79)

MONDAY 24 DECEMBER – I call the agents again but there is no reply so I front up at the house. 10 minutes after the appointed time they call to say their office had an attempted break in, the locks were jammed and he has only just got in. I tell him the truth of the story and he says they don’t have time to come over now but will do so later in the day as a gesture of goodwill. In the afternoon he calls back and says they have run out of time but will meet me on Thursday. Claire arrives with the Christmas hamper than her company have given to us. A 5kg turkey, sausages, stuffing, family pork pie, joint of gammon, beef and pork and other goodies. We sort out what we can eat over the next few days and freeze the rest. Claire returns in the evening with the kids and we start off with games. In Poundland I bought dessert chocolates with 4 x 4 different ones and the game is for them to guess the dessert that is represented, raspberry cheesecake, tiramisu, lemon cake and crème caramel. After a few more games we phone up Pizza Ranch with our takeaway order and are soon tucking in to burgers, Indian and pizzas. The games continue with a gap to watch Coronation Street and we have a great time.
KEIGHLEY (+80)

TUESDAY 25 DECEMBER – We wake after 9am so I quickly get the turkey in the oven. I have a hunch my oven thermostat is not working well so opt for the low temperature slow cook meaning it should be ready about 2.30pm. Steve is feeling marvellous, a far cry from last year when on Christmas day he was really sick and couldn’t eat anything. I’ve got my Christmas wish of Steve at home and Claire has bought us a couple of thoughtful presents to open. By 12.30pm the turkey is cooked so we end up eating just before 1pm. It is all delicious and our dinner for 2 goes down really well. On Sandra’s advice I set about boiling up the carcass to make soup. The freezer is on the blink and we cannot get the temperature to come down, it is stuck at -6C even on fast freeze (normally -18C). We put 3 chilled joints and some sausages in yesterday but still feel there is something amiss. I still chance putting in 4 trays of leftover turkey. The TV is rubbish, gone are the days of mega movies you hadn’t seen before so we settle on repeats of old Christmas millionaires that we have missed over the years. A late move “Couples Retreat” catches our eye and keeps us up until almost 1am. Settling into bed I comment on the fact that Christmas has been OK and Steve says it has been lovely.
KEIGHLEY (+81)

WEDNESDAY 26 DECEMBER – The freezer has crept down to -8C so rather than bring the spare in from the outdoor cupboard we opt to leave well alone and not open it at all today. We’d hoped to get out for a walk but like yesterday it is very windy and the stormy skies keep bringing bouts of heavy rain. I check on the Internet about the wonderful Bora Bora resort Regis featured on last night’s movie. Maybe we won’t be going there – the price for a couple for the week is £10,000 and up. Steve is having a problem with smelly sulphurous burps which is strange as we didn’t overeat yesterday nor did we eat anything unusual.
KEIGHLEY (+82)

THURSDAY 27 DECEMBER – I dig some turkey out of the freezer for a turkey curry. In the afternoon I have a headache so sleep it off. Steve’s turn to be unwell in the evening with a bad stomach and frequent visits to the loo, what a pair.
KEIGHLEY (+83)

FRIDAY 28 DECEMBER – We both have little sleep with Steve making frequent visits to the loo. At least we can get him checked out as we have a hospital visit. Steve’s line is playing up again and they only get a little blood from it. We are then put in an isolation room waiting to see Dr Suresh. They ask for a stool sample but are not overly concerned as his other blood tests are good. Leading towards day 100 when many of Steve’s drugs will be stopped they now knock off the immunosuppressant ciclosporin. It’s been a quick visit and we are home in time for lunch.
KEIGHLEY (+84)

SATURDAY 29 DECEMBER – Steve gets up very late after another poor night. It’s still miserable and rainy but I need to get out so meet Sandra down town for a coffee and a bit of shopping. Claire visits and has something to eat with us. Steve is feeling much better and with no call from the hospital we guess he just had a regular stomach upset that under normal circumstances would not have bothered us. In the evening I get a text from Netty to say that Steph has gone into labour.
KEIGHLEY (+85)

SUNDAY 30 DECEMBER – At 1.45am I get the fantastic news that Steph has had a girl, Olivia Lily, weighing a healthy 9lb 7oz. In the afternoon I pick up Natasha & Azura who come round for a couple of hours to play cards.
KEIGHLEY (+86)

MONDAY 31 DECEMBER – Home again for the day, will be glad once we get past day 100 and Steve can mix more with other people and get out and about. The weather is lousy but sitting in watching TV isn’t great fun although we do have a good chuckle watching old New Year’s party videos. Think the biggest changes are the hair styles and in the case of a couple of the men the hair colours with grey the new trend. Reflecting on last New Year’s Eve, when Steve was in hospital, we have come a long way and look like we are on the right track which is reassuring. We sit up until midnight and enjoy the firework spectacle in London. We can hear fireworks outside and peering out of the kitchen window see a few bright orange fireballs flying across the sky, most strange.
KEIGHLEY (+87)

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FELIZ ANO NUEVO! Let 2013 be a better year for all of you- as you say it is a mix of good and bad news over the Christmas period- opening cards from those you don’t regularly speak with always brings some bad tidings along with the good ones!
We celebrated new year in Guardamar under the Town hall, alongside all nationalities dancing to a live band- those Spanish couples really know how to dance!Unfortunately I have done something to my back since travelling back from UK before Christmas- and it is hampering my dancing!
Today has dawned sunny and warm- Bob has been for a motor bike session with the ‘lads’ while I watched the Vienna New years Eve concert!
Anyway- so pleased that this year was so much better than last year’s new Year and Chritmas- and it is a great start to 2013 for you. Love A and B

Hope your back gets better soon. Good to know you are getting some decent weather, it is pretty abysmal here and not condusive to going outside at all. All the best for 2013, have a feeling Spain will be one of our early trips when we are allowed out of England so keep us in mind. Glen and Steve x

Just look at all that you have come though in the past year, marvellous. I detect an upward trend in your news, long may that continue so that you can move on strengthened by all that you’ve learnt and overcome. Be good to see you back out there on the next big adventure.
As you know our year has been a struggle too I am told the year of the Dragon is often a hard slog and very brutal. Lets hope the Snake offers an auspicious year http://www.chineseastrology.com/2013snakeyear.html. WE hope to make it to Cuba this year,via Florida, Bahamas, Puerto Rico but the season will be a short one. Who knows we may take a holiday within USA too.
With the dawn of a New Year may you find Peace, Joy and Harmony. May your life be filled with joyful surprises, and may you find inspiration in the most unexpected places.
Love and all good things
Lesley xx

Happy New Year to you all too. Still on a short leash from hospital but can now do day trips beyond our 1 hour radius and hoping to build up to weekends away. Once we get to that stage we would love to catch up with you. Desperate to get out to the coast as we are getting bungalow fever!

It’s so good to read that Steve is on the right track and everything is going well with him. Hope you both have a wonderful 2013 and manage to get in some travelling later on. We had a good Christmas, was lovely weather on the day, 26 degrees, perfect!! We took the caravan up the coast to Normanville to spend a week with our friends, the weather was lovely and warm during the day but the nights were very cold and breezy. Normanvlle put on a New Years street party and fireworks later on when it got dark. They were excellent for a little country town but it is a very busy place at this time of the year with all the holiday makers. Back home now and doing the usual sorting out, cleaning the caravan out and catching up with laundry. We heard that Steph had given birth to a beautiful baby girl Olivia, great news!! Netty and David must be very happy at having a girl for their first grandchild. Congratulate Netty for me and also your Mum at being a great grandma and not forgetting you two at being a great Auntie and Uncle. Good wishes and prayers go to you both and hoping all goes well for 2013. Lots of Love Nicole, George and family. xxx